Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collections
Publication
Vertigo (2010), Paperback, 232 pages
Description
As the free Fables struggle to regroup following the destruction of their New York City stronghold, they are suddenly faced with a new menace-one who threatens not only their adopted planet, but all of reality itself! Against such terrible power, can even the combined abilities of these legendary storybook heroes prevail? Only one thing is certain: Once the battle is joined, the world of Fables will never be the same! All nine issues of the long-awaited crossover between Vertigo's two popular series Fables and Jack of Fables are collected in this volume, including Jack of Fables #33-35 and The Literals #1-3.
User reviews
LibraryThing member stephmo
Really?
This really had no business ever being marketed as part of the Fables series - even if Bill Willingham wanted to claim that issues #83-85 were included in this volume. I don't follow Jack of Fables at all (I was more than happy to see that character take leave of the Fables world), so I
But, seriously? Really? I left Fables being taken over by Mister Dark bringing an evil that has all but destroyed Fabletown. I've lost a major character. Blufkin is trapped in an office that no longer exists and it's with Baba Yaga. How do you only resolve a scuffle between Beast and Bigby and call that moving the story forward? And then pretty much hand me Jack walking in and forcing himself on Rose Red in an all-but catatonic state and tell me that it's supposed to be funny because he breaks the fourth wall? Or is it because Rose's personal hygiene has fallen to the wayside that it's super-funny that Jack will have sex with her anyway? Yeah, rapey Jack is hi-lar-i-ous like that.
The rest of the storyline involves bringing everyone together to stop Kevin Thorne, the man who has actually written the entire universe, from writing an end to the world. I'm sure how this was discovered was covered in Jack of Fables, but here we are in Fables trying to stop the universe from ending. It's a self-contained story and since we all know that Fables and Jack of Fables have both continued...I'm sure we can all guess how this adventure turns out for everyone. I'm now preparing myself mentally for that time where I will know that The Great Fables Crossover simply never happened.
This really had no business ever being marketed as part of the Fables series - even if Bill Willingham wanted to claim that issues #83-85 were included in this volume. I don't follow Jack of Fables at all (I was more than happy to see that character take leave of the Fables world), so I
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have no idea if an equal sham is being pulled for their issues or not. Theoretically, we're also reading issues 1-3 of the Literals, so I guess we can't complain that's gone off the rails right?But, seriously? Really? I left Fables being taken over by Mister Dark bringing an evil that has all but destroyed Fabletown. I've lost a major character. Blufkin is trapped in an office that no longer exists and it's with Baba Yaga. How do you only resolve a scuffle between Beast and Bigby and call that moving the story forward? And then pretty much hand me Jack walking in and forcing himself on Rose Red in an all-but catatonic state and tell me that it's supposed to be funny because he breaks the fourth wall? Or is it because Rose's personal hygiene has fallen to the wayside that it's super-funny that Jack will have sex with her anyway? Yeah, rapey Jack is hi-lar-i-ous like that.
The rest of the storyline involves bringing everyone together to stop Kevin Thorne, the man who has actually written the entire universe, from writing an end to the world. I'm sure how this was discovered was covered in Jack of Fables, but here we are in Fables trying to stop the universe from ending. It's a self-contained story and since we all know that Fables and Jack of Fables have both continued...I'm sure we can all guess how this adventure turns out for everyone. I'm now preparing myself mentally for that time where I will know that The Great Fables Crossover simply never happened.
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
The basic premise of Fables is that the characters from our fairy-tales are real people. They fled their homeland, pursued by a nameless enemy, and ended up in New York City, where like all immigrants they struggled to both assimilate and stay true to themselves.
The plot behind this particular
The plot behind this particular
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collection is that someone has regained the power to rewrite the universe, and intends to scrap the world and start over. The Fables and the Literals team up to stop this from happening. But really, not much happens, and what does happen is cartoonish and silly. There are something like 5 pages of Bigby as a pink elephant. It's just...not good. Show Less
LibraryThing member josh314
Like a number of the other reviewers, I'll call this volume a low point for Fables. I read both Fables and Jack and while they are both in the same universe, they have vastly different tones that don't mix well. In general Jack of Fables is a bit silly and light-hearted. It takes very little
If you don't read Jack, you can probably skip this volume. Of course, if you are a Jack reader, then this is the culmination of the story arc of Kevin Thorn and maybe all the Literals. So you probably want to read it.
I need to comment on the Rose Red arc, too. I'm of two minds on this. First, it is obviously pretty gross and disturbing. But then I think that that is the point, Rose is at rock bottom. Still, because Jack is basically a comedic character, it comes off as too much. It isn't just some bad decision of Rose's; since it involves Jack, it's part of a gag. Rose has been too much of a punching bag lately, and if Willingham is just going to keep degrading her, I'm going to be discouraged from continuing with the series.
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seriously, contains many metafictional elements, and is totally amoral. The last point is important; the main character is a "magnificent bastard" type who just does what he wants. The series is funny in that cringe-inducing sense that you get when you watch complete a-holes do their thing (I liken Jack to Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm). Fables, on the other hand, is much more serious work, in characters live, love, die and struggle with real moral issues. The Crossover pretty much just had the tone of Jack of Fables take over the Fables series. If you don't read Jack, you can probably skip this volume. Of course, if you are a Jack reader, then this is the culmination of the story arc of Kevin Thorn and maybe all the Literals. So you probably want to read it.
I need to comment on the Rose Red arc, too. I'm of two minds on this. First, it is obviously pretty gross and disturbing. But then I think that that is the point, Rose is at rock bottom. Still, because Jack is basically a comedic character, it comes off as too much. It isn't just some bad decision of Rose's; since it involves Jack, it's part of a gag. Rose has been too much of a punching bag lately, and if Willingham is just going to keep degrading her, I'm going to be discouraged from continuing with the series.
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LibraryThing member Girl_Detective
A welcome respite from the near-unrelenting darkness and violence of the last few volumes. How thoroughly you enjoy this book may depend on how well you like the character of Jack. You know, Jack: Frost, Horner, the Giant Killer, Be-Nimble, etc. I stopped reading the Jack of Fables series, as I
More entertaining, I thought, was learning more about The Literals, characters like Gary the Pathetic Fallacy, Mr. Revise who can edit stories permanently (ever heard of the four little pigs? He's why not.), and the Page sisters, who are kick-ass librarians with magic powers.
Kevin Thorn, who is able to write worlds in and out of existence, is struggling for the words to unmake the world, which has gone on so long without his intervention that he's appalled by how things have turned out: The Big Bad Wolf is in human form, married to Snow White, and a father? Gepetto became so much more than a puppet maker? As he struggles against his twin, Writer's Block, the Fables and Literals race to eliminate Kevin before he does the same to them.
Pink elephants! Theocratic badgers! Girls with glasses and really big guns! Babe the blue ox, insane and funny! Plus a little girl who's not as sweet as she looks. This is a fun, clever diversion, far too heavy on Jack, until we get back to the grim stuff, which I'm sure will happen soon.
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found him more insufferable than funny. And while he has some funny bits in this volume, especially his meta-textual intos and outros, anytime he was on page I couldn't wait for him to get off. More entertaining, I thought, was learning more about The Literals, characters like Gary the Pathetic Fallacy, Mr. Revise who can edit stories permanently (ever heard of the four little pigs? He's why not.), and the Page sisters, who are kick-ass librarians with magic powers.
Kevin Thorn, who is able to write worlds in and out of existence, is struggling for the words to unmake the world, which has gone on so long without his intervention that he's appalled by how things have turned out: The Big Bad Wolf is in human form, married to Snow White, and a father? Gepetto became so much more than a puppet maker? As he struggles against his twin, Writer's Block, the Fables and Literals race to eliminate Kevin before he does the same to them.
Pink elephants! Theocratic badgers! Girls with glasses and really big guns! Babe the blue ox, insane and funny! Plus a little girl who's not as sweet as she looks. This is a fun, clever diversion, far too heavy on Jack, until we get back to the grim stuff, which I'm sure will happen soon.
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LibraryThing member Sr_Moreno
Definitely the poorest of the Fables books to date. The story is fragmented and uses characters and concepts from the Jack of Fables books with little or no explanation or background given. If you're familiar with Jack of Fables this probably won't be a problem (though the weak storyline will be)
I'd advise Fables readers to skip this one.
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but this is marketed by Vertigo as Fables Book 13, which seems dishonest on their part. The "Boy Blue religion" sub-plot is hardly explored before it is apparently finished off, and the central plot barely makes sense (the villain's procrastination is ridiculous). The Jack of Fables characters also gleefully destroy the fourth wall at every opportunity, which is jarring in what is nominally a Fables book.I'd advise Fables readers to skip this one.
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LibraryThing member nesum
My least favorite of the Fables volumes. It really seemed like half of the book was missing the point, or didn't really know what the plot was, or who the characters were. The main problem here didn't really even make sense until the end, and not in a cool "ending revelations change everything"
Granted, a lot of my frustration in this book is probably merely Jack being Jack. I don't read Jack of Fables, so I'm not sure what all has happened since he left, but he seems quite a bit more annoying since last we say him. And in a book that features him a lot, that's a problem.
The bottom line is that I really didn't get a sense of the conflict or threat here (except the generic "the world is going to end"), so it was difficult for me to care all that much. A great disappointment after volume 11 was so strong.
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sort of way, but more of a "we really should have had a little more dialogue toward the beginning about what was happening before starting the adventure."Granted, a lot of my frustration in this book is probably merely Jack being Jack. I don't read Jack of Fables, so I'm not sure what all has happened since he left, but he seems quite a bit more annoying since last we say him. And in a book that features him a lot, that's a problem.
The bottom line is that I really didn't get a sense of the conflict or threat here (except the generic "the world is going to end"), so it was difficult for me to care all that much. A great disappointment after volume 11 was so strong.
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LibraryThing member MerryMeerkat
Out of all of the issues combined into this volume, the first one was my favorite and I feel like they all went down hill after that. As usual the art was great, but the story annoyed me this time.
I loved that Bigby gets a talking too from Snow in the first issue. In the second of nine stories I
Story 4- Realized I'm confused with too many people named Jack. In Story 5, I loved the quote "Please don't poop on me again Mr. Bigby." Bigby is turned into a donkey, elephant and a little girl. While amusing, not really much point to it. By story 6, I'm still confused. Story 7, boring. Story 8 I felt was scatterbrained, though the listing of the characters was useful. At this point I was waiting for this volume to be over because I was basically bored although there were amusing moments. I was also missing the regular characters. The final story was a lame ending. Hoping the next volume is better.
I loved that Bigby gets a talking too from Snow in the first issue. In the second of nine stories I
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felt really confused as to what was going on. By the 3rd part, I finally figured out that the Fables world was being rewritten. Bigby is turned into a chimp which is amusing. I was curious to see where this was going but I was disappointed. The lettering for when Jack is rewritting the story is annoying and hard to read. I don't know if its like that in the paper copy but on Kindle it was hard to read. Story 4- Realized I'm confused with too many people named Jack. In Story 5, I loved the quote "Please don't poop on me again Mr. Bigby." Bigby is turned into a donkey, elephant and a little girl. While amusing, not really much point to it. By story 6, I'm still confused. Story 7, boring. Story 8 I felt was scatterbrained, though the listing of the characters was useful. At this point I was waiting for this volume to be over because I was basically bored although there were amusing moments. I was also missing the regular characters. The final story was a lame ending. Hoping the next volume is better.
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LibraryThing member krizia_lazaro
Currently, this is the funniest Fables I've read but not the best though. A lot of Bigby and Snow White, again. I'm starting to dislike those two because every Fables book is about them. Its like when you eat chocolate everyday you get tired of it in a matter of time. I also used to be indifferent
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to Jack Horner but through this Fables book, I've grown to love him. I'm thinking of reading "Jack of Fables". He's really funny. a comic relief and the most unusual story hero. The Literals are also interesting. I loved seeing the different genres personified. I would love to see a second volume of "The Literals". Over-all, it was an okay book. Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
4.5 stars
Jack Horner is back in this volume of Fables, along with a whole new bunch of characters. Kevin is an author, trying to rewrite all his previous stories, but he needs help from the Genres. This could threaten the lives of all the Fables.
This is right up there with Vol. 1 as my favourite of
Jack Horner is back in this volume of Fables, along with a whole new bunch of characters. Kevin is an author, trying to rewrite all his previous stories, but he needs help from the Genres. This could threaten the lives of all the Fables.
This is right up there with Vol. 1 as my favourite of
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the series. I loved most of the new characters, the Genres, as well as the Page Sisters (especially the librarian). I hope to see some of these characters return in future volumes. Show Less
LibraryThing member andreablythe
Jack Horner was exiled from the Fables community ages ago and soon began appearing in his own spin off series [Jack of Fables] (which I haven't read). This volume shows the crossover of the Fables series and the Jack of Fables and I was kind of meh about it. The story was too wacky to me (though
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seeing Bigby as a cute, pissed off little girl was priceless) and I wasn't in love with much of the art. Also, Jack is such an epic douche that I had a hard time reading any scene in which he appeared. If this is what the Jack of Fables series is like, then I have no interest in it. Show Less
LibraryThing member rores28
Great metafictive elements. This series is significantly better after "The Dark Ages.
LibraryThing member -Eva-
Jack was banished from Fabletown a long time ago, but in this installment, he trades places with Snow and Bigby and goes to the farm and they get to battle an enemy that should truly be his. This is my least favorite installment in the series so far - mainly because the crossover doesn't quite
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work. Jack is the one with the funny/flippant storyline and Snow and Bigby should be big and bold heroes (although one of Bigby's transformations is quite hilarious - and he gets out of it with his dignity intact). Hopefully, Snow and Bigby get to return to their proper storyline in future installments and leave Jack with the jokes. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the thirteenth book in the Fables series. It was an interesting and amusing read, but still one of the weakest books in the series so far.
This book features Jack (I guess he is supposed to be crossing over to Fables from his own series). Jack shows up at the farm and is mistaken by Stinky
I’ll be completely blunt here and say I just don’t like Jack as a character, he bugs me and so a story featuring him wasn’t my favorite. While the Literals are an amusing set of characters and an interesting idea, they didn’t really match well with the rest of the Fables characters. After being so excited by the appearance of a new baddie for the Fables to face off against in the last book, I was left confused when Mr. Dark wasn’t in this story all that much.
I was kind of left feeling like this installment was an effort to get Fables’ fans to go and read the Jack series, and that just didn’t work for me.
That’s not to say it was all bad. The Page sisters are funny and kick-butt and Kevin Thorn is an oddly disturbing villain. The story is creative and amusing but doesn’t build on the rest of the Fables story all that much.
The illustration is in keeping with previous installments and was generally well done and in keeping with the story.
The book was amusing and interesting but not as gripping as previous installments. Mostly I was just happy to see the end of the Literals and Jack. I am eager to get back to the main story and find out what happens with Mr. Dark.
Overall an okay installment in the series but one of the weakest. This book revolves more around Jack and the Literals; they are all mildly interesting but I missed the main story of Fables new dark adversary. I don’t really enjoy Jack as a character, so was disappointed that so much of the story revolved around him. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Witches, and am hoping that the next book will go back to the storyline that was started in The Dark Ages.
This book features Jack (I guess he is supposed to be crossing over to Fables from his own series). Jack shows up at the farm and is mistaken by Stinky
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to be a reborn Boy Blue. Meanwhile Jack introduces the Fables to the Literals...a group of genre based characters and their creator Kevin Thorne (The Storymaker). Fables and crew have to stop Kevin Thorne from rewriting the universe.I’ll be completely blunt here and say I just don’t like Jack as a character, he bugs me and so a story featuring him wasn’t my favorite. While the Literals are an amusing set of characters and an interesting idea, they didn’t really match well with the rest of the Fables characters. After being so excited by the appearance of a new baddie for the Fables to face off against in the last book, I was left confused when Mr. Dark wasn’t in this story all that much.
I was kind of left feeling like this installment was an effort to get Fables’ fans to go and read the Jack series, and that just didn’t work for me.
That’s not to say it was all bad. The Page sisters are funny and kick-butt and Kevin Thorn is an oddly disturbing villain. The story is creative and amusing but doesn’t build on the rest of the Fables story all that much.
The illustration is in keeping with previous installments and was generally well done and in keeping with the story.
The book was amusing and interesting but not as gripping as previous installments. Mostly I was just happy to see the end of the Literals and Jack. I am eager to get back to the main story and find out what happens with Mr. Dark.
Overall an okay installment in the series but one of the weakest. This book revolves more around Jack and the Literals; they are all mildly interesting but I missed the main story of Fables new dark adversary. I don’t really enjoy Jack as a character, so was disappointed that so much of the story revolved around him. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Witches, and am hoping that the next book will go back to the storyline that was started in The Dark Ages.
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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Another great volume of Fables. I think I definitely need to read some more Jack of Fables cause I love the Page Sisters. I hope to see more of them in the future.
LibraryThing member EJAYS17
Ever since discovering Fables I have loved each and every collection. When I review them I often run out of superlatives to lavish upon them. Sooner or later most creative endeavours have to hit a road bump and I believe that The Great Fables Crossover is one such obstacle for the Fables book.
In
The collection started promisingly. With Brock the Badger starting a cult around Boy Blue and insisting that their hero would return from the dead with the unshakeable faith of the true fanatic. Bigby and Beast were going at it, blood and fur flying, until Snow stepped in and gave Bigby a right royal telling off. It was actually rather amusing to see this huge wolf, spattered in blood, with a shame faced look on his face allowing a slender, but angry woman to send him off like a naughty child.
The action briefly crossed back to Fabletown where it appeared that the sinister Mr Dark was launching a serious bid for control over more of the Mundy world than just the now ruined Fabletown.
The 2nd chapter saw the return of Jack and the real beginning of the crossover. Most of the story covered some nonsense that Jack had gottem himself involved in with some characters called the Literals, who wielded various measures of control over fictional characters. The main problem was that one of them; Kevin Thorn, had gone rogue and was trying to destroy the Fables.
For most of the collection it just felt like Snow and Bigby had been dropped into this for their Fables connection and the fact that they're popular with fans. The story could have been adequately covered in Jack's title with a guest appearance from some of the other Fables.
There was also a side plot about a child Jack had with the Snow Queen back in the Homelands, he was Jack Frost. Again this was a story that could have been quite easily accomodated within Jack's own title, as it concerned him more than any of the other Fables.
I had the feeling that Bill Willingham set everything up in The Dark Ages, but then having completed a major story arc he didn't quite know where to go, but still had to fill a few issues, so he came up with the crossover concept. Given how ultimately disappointing this collection turned out to be I think it would have been best to put Fables on hold for a while until it's new story arc could be properly written. As it stands The Great Fables Crossover is an unnecessary blight on Fables.
In
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the comics world crossover is code for: we've run out ideas or we need to shift more of one particular title, sometimes both. Sadly Fables is no exception.The collection started promisingly. With Brock the Badger starting a cult around Boy Blue and insisting that their hero would return from the dead with the unshakeable faith of the true fanatic. Bigby and Beast were going at it, blood and fur flying, until Snow stepped in and gave Bigby a right royal telling off. It was actually rather amusing to see this huge wolf, spattered in blood, with a shame faced look on his face allowing a slender, but angry woman to send him off like a naughty child.
The action briefly crossed back to Fabletown where it appeared that the sinister Mr Dark was launching a serious bid for control over more of the Mundy world than just the now ruined Fabletown.
The 2nd chapter saw the return of Jack and the real beginning of the crossover. Most of the story covered some nonsense that Jack had gottem himself involved in with some characters called the Literals, who wielded various measures of control over fictional characters. The main problem was that one of them; Kevin Thorn, had gone rogue and was trying to destroy the Fables.
For most of the collection it just felt like Snow and Bigby had been dropped into this for their Fables connection and the fact that they're popular with fans. The story could have been adequately covered in Jack's title with a guest appearance from some of the other Fables.
There was also a side plot about a child Jack had with the Snow Queen back in the Homelands, he was Jack Frost. Again this was a story that could have been quite easily accomodated within Jack's own title, as it concerned him more than any of the other Fables.
I had the feeling that Bill Willingham set everything up in The Dark Ages, but then having completed a major story arc he didn't quite know where to go, but still had to fill a few issues, so he came up with the crossover concept. Given how ultimately disappointing this collection turned out to be I think it would have been best to put Fables on hold for a while until it's new story arc could be properly written. As it stands The Great Fables Crossover is an unnecessary blight on Fables.
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LibraryThing member Aerrin99
I have adored every inch of this series to date, but this was a volume better left unread. Although I knew it was a crossover (conveniently labeled thus in the title), I expected the book to explain the concept firmly enough that it was understandable to either side - but it definitely did not. I
Worse, the story isn't even that engaging. The concept of the Literals doesn't seem to fit well into the world of Fables, I didn't find any of them that interesting, and the 'threat' of Thorn writing everything out of existence wasn't half so threatening or impressive as a little old man with wooden soldiers managed to be.
This is a cheap crossover story with little care for the characters and a lot of cheap 'laughs' that doesn't, to me, fit the mood of the series at all.
Basically worth it only for the artwork of Bigby as a little girl. I can like the pictures even when I hate the concept, right?
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spent most of the book confused and the first half trying to decide if I'd missed an important volume somewhere or something. Worse, the story isn't even that engaging. The concept of the Literals doesn't seem to fit well into the world of Fables, I didn't find any of them that interesting, and the 'threat' of Thorn writing everything out of existence wasn't half so threatening or impressive as a little old man with wooden soldiers managed to be.
This is a cheap crossover story with little care for the characters and a lot of cheap 'laughs' that doesn't, to me, fit the mood of the series at all.
Basically worth it only for the artwork of Bigby as a little girl. I can like the pictures even when I hate the concept, right?
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LibraryThing member lithicbee
This cross-over has funny moments, but for me as a Fables reader, I was not thrilled with the break from the main storyline and with the major fourth-wall destruction wrought by Jack and the Literals. There were bits about a religion being created around Boy Blue that were fun/interesting, but they
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were sort of glossed over in favor of Jack's story. Show Less
LibraryThing member tayitude
I think I have to come back to this one after reading more Jack of Fables.
LibraryThing member bdgamer
Felt disjointed.
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Another great volume of Fables. I think I definitely need to read some more Jack of Fables cause I love the Page Sisters. I hope to see more of them in the future.
LibraryThing member tayitude
I think I have to come back to this one after reading more Jack of Fables.
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Another great volume of Fables. I think I definitely need to read some more Jack of Fables cause I love the Page Sisters. I hope to see more of them in the future.
LibraryThing member melrailey
I continue to like the way that Willingham plays on words and ideas and makes them literal people. I don't think this "crossover event" is quite as compelling as the individual series are on their own. I did love the Genres though.
LibraryThing member Skybalon
My first less than 4 star review. Still wonderfully illustrated, just not that good of a story.
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Another great volume of Fables. I think I definitely need to read some more Jack of Fables cause I love the Page Sisters. I hope to see more of them in the future.
Language
Original publication date
2010
Physical description
232 p.; 10.22 inches
ISBN
1401225721 / 9781401225728
Local notes
Bigby and Beast get into a violent fight that demonstrates the influence of the dark powers present. Rose Red sinks deeper and deeper into depression. Stinky starts a religion foretelling Boy Blue's heroic return, which a returning Jack Horner takes advantage of before encountering his son, the new Jack Frost.
Collects issues 83-85. Also includes Jack of Fables issues 33 to 35 and The Literals issues 1 to 3.
Collects issues 83-85. Also includes Jack of Fables issues 33 to 35 and The Literals issues 1 to 3.